Flood situation in south Bengal turned grim on Saturday with 1.19 lakh people taking shelter in relief camps in 12 districts, even as weatherman forecast more heavy rains in the next two days.“So far 966 relief camps have been set up sheltering 1.19 lakh affected people,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told newspersons here. “We have opened 124 medical camps,” she said.Speaking about the flood situation in the State after a review meeting, the Chief Minister said 12 districts in the Gangetic plains were affected, while the number of rain or flood related deaths did not increase and the toll stood at 39.Ms. Banerjee then left for Udaynarayanpur in Howrah district, which has been badly affected, to see the flood situation for herself. She is expected to visit more flood affected areas soon, officials said.They said that so far...Read more...

1.8 lakh houses have been damaged and crop was lost in over 2.10 lakh hectares due to the floods.State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim went to Arambagh in Hooghly district during the day and oversaw relief arrangements for the affected people. Other Ministers have also been asked to visit flood affected areas to coordinate relief operations.Ms. Banerjee said her government would try to support the flood-affected people with its own resources as she was not hopeful about much help from the Centre.“Did the Centre send any help for Darjeeling disaster [landslides last month]?” an annoyed Ms. Banerjee shot back when reporters asked her whether Centre’s assistance was sought.Flooding of farmland, towns and villages were reported from several districts of South Bengal like Howrah, Hooghly, Burdwan, Bankura, South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore with heavy downpour occurring in Gangetic West Bengal in the last few days.Heavy rainfall also lashed Kolkata and adjoining areas since Friday and disrupted normal life, throwing road and rail traffic out of gear since early this morning as most parts of the city were submerged.The MeT department recorded 143.2 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours till 5.30 pm today and has forecast heavy to very heavy rains in Gangetic West Bengal for another two days.Odisha villages maroonedThough the flood situation in Odisha improved significantly, the inflow of rain water from the neighbouring West Bengal today caused marooning of 10 more villages in the bordering Balasore district even as the toll in the current spell of flood is five, officials said.“All the major rivers in the State are flowing below the danger level. However, inflow of rain water from West Bengal, where heavy rainfall occurred under the effect of cyclonic system Komen, has caused marooning of some more villages in Balasore district,” Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) G.V.V. Sarma said.As per reports received from the Collectors of the concerned districts, the SRC said about 4.79 lakh people of 597 villages under 15 Blocks and one ULB in five districts namely Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Bhardak and Balasore have been affected by the current spell of flood.Replying to a question, the SRC said so far five persons have died in the current spell of floods in the State. The death cases came from Balasore (2), one each from Mayurbhaj, Jajpur and Keonjhar. While four persons died of drowning, one succumbed to snake bite during the floods, Mr. Sarma said.While the number of villages marooned in recent floods in Balasore district was 10 till Friday, it increased to 20.“Marooned villages of Balsore district as on date have thus increased to 20 (Jaleswar Block—15 and Bhogarai Block—5),” the SRC said adding that water from all other villages which were earlier marooned has been cleared by now.Preliminary estimate indicate that dwelling houses of about 664 families have been affected in Jajpur district, the SRC said adding that assessment of damage to private houses in other districts was under assessment. As per report of the Engineer-in-Chief, Rural Water Supply & Sanitation (RWSS), 2937 tube wells and 1 piper water supply system have been affected due to flood, he said.As many as 32 groups have been engaged for repair/ disinfection of tube wells. Bags of bleaching powder (25kg each) have been provided for disinfection. Thousands of water pouches have been distributed in the flood affected areas.20 killed in Manipur landslideTwenty people were killed in a landslide triggered by heavy incessant rain at Zoumoal village in Manipur’s Chandel district on Saturday, police said.Superintendent of Police of Chandel district Herojit Singh said 20 people were killed in the landslide at the village under Khangbarol sub-division of the district. The SP said that a police team has been sent to the spot which is located near Indo-Myanmar border.

A girl was swept away by water current in west Bengal's Murshidabad district, while a woman died in a house collapse in Howrah as the flood toll shot up to 47 on Saturday due to heavy overnight rains across the state.The rains triggered by the cyclone Komen crippled normal life in Kolkata, hitting the train services.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Friday evening put the death count at 39 but relentless widespread rain on Saturday led to at least eight fatalities in the districts.In Murshidabad's Andulia, a girl was carried away by a strong current and in Howrah's Panchla, rains triggered the collapse of a mud house leading to the death of a woman and injuring her husband....Read more...

In Nadia, four deaths were reported by district administration officials while West Midnapore witnessed at least two fatalities.Nearly two lakh houses have been damaged while over a lakh residents are in relief camps due to the incessant-rain triggered flood-like situation in the state, Banerjee said on Saturday.The nagging rains are due to a deep depression over Bay of Bengal caused by Komen."As many as 1.8 lakh houses have been damaged and 12 districts are affected due to the flood-like situation. 966 relief camps are sheltering 1.19 lakh people across the state," Banerjee said at the state secretariat 'Nabanna' in Howrah.Crops spread over 2.10 lakh hectares of farmland were destroyed in the rain-hit districts, she added.The chief minister took stock of the situation in Howrah's Udaynarayanpur during the day and asserted her government would aid in relief of the affected people with its own resources as she was not expecting much help from the central government.Stretches in Burdwan, Birbhum, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas districts are still submerged, and seven lakh people affected.In Ghatal in West Midnapore, boats were pressed into service.Several parts of Kolkata were waterlogged. The Met Office recorded 117.4 mm of rainfall till 8.30 am on Saturday. It has forecast "heavy to very heavy rainfall" in a few places in Gangetic West Bengal (south Bengal) in the next 24 to 48 hours.While South Eastern Railway (SER) cancelled 19 suburban trains, the Eastern Railway was forced to cancel one. Several trains ran behind schedule.The SER also rescheduled three Express trains - the 18645 Howrah-Hyderabad East Coast Express, 18615 Howrah-Hatia Kriya Yoga ExpressAand 12860 Howrah-Mumbai Gitanjali Express while 11 EMU local ones were rescheduled to take off from Santragachi instead of Howrah.Apart from this, three Mail and Express trains - 12828 Purulia-Howrah Express, 12833 Ahmedabad-Howrah Express and 22832 Sri Satya Sai Prashanti Nilayam-Howrah Express were Ashort terminated at Santragachi instead of Howrah.Altogether 15 Mail and Express trains arrived or departed from Howrah behind schedule.SER authorities said waterlogging at the vital Howrah junction, Tikiapara and Santragachi railway yards resulted in congestion, delaying the trains.Slum-dwellers near Kankurgachi and Ultadanga in east Kolkata battled the inclement weather with layers of tarpaulin sheets and plastics woven around their huts but the inundation has left them in dire straits.Water-logging also forced members of many families residing on the ground floor in duplexes to move up to the upper storeys.The water level of the Ganga stood at a high of 6.64 m at around 1.41 pm on Saturday during high tide, said a River Traffic Police official, adding heavy rains had added to the swelling.The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has pressed into service over 300 pumps from its permanent pumping stations in different parts of the city in addition to 360 more portable pumps to drain out the water.

KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL: The aftermath of Cyclone Komen has affected lives of over seven lakh people across the states of West Bengal, Odisha and Manipur, heavy rains have cut off important road links in the north-east, as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee blamed the Centre for not providing any assistance.

Like many other parts of Kolkata city, Amherst Street has been waterlogged since late last night and well into the afternoon today. The Kolkata Railway Station was submerged and services were suspended. Local and long distance trains from Sealdah and Howrah stations were running late because of waterlogging on the railway tracks and damage to signal systems.Almost 1.8 lakh houses have been damaged and 21 lakh hectares of farmland...Read more...

has been submerged in 12 districts of the state. Atleast 39 people are feared dead and 1.19 lakh people have been shifted in 946 relief camps.

Before leaving to oversee relief work in Howrah, Ms Bannerjee said, "When so many people died in the landslides of Darjeeling, the Centre did nothing. We are poor state but we will manage. We will send them a report later but we will manage ourselves. Worst comes to worst, I will beg from people like you."

Manipur's capital, Imphal has been cut off from Moreh on the Indo-Myanmar border and Jiribam on the state's border with Assam, an estimated one lakh people are affected. Thoubal and Chandel districts are the worst hit, more than 100 vehicles, coming from Moreh were stranded near Tengnoupal.

Heavy rain forecast is in place for at least another 24 hours.

In Odisha, almost five lakh people have taken shelter in relief camps due to incessant rains. Though water in three major rivers of Odisha is receding, 593 villages have been affected.

Kolkata: Heavy rainfall lashed south Bengal districts and disrupted normal life in the state capital here, throwing road and rail traffic out of gear since early this morning as most parts of the city were submerged.The MeT department recorded 133.6-mm rainfall in the last 24 hours till 8.30 A.M. today and has forecast heavy to very heavy rains in Gangetic West Bengal till tomorrow.Cyclone 'Komen', which made landfall in Bangladesh on Thursday, remained practically stationary there and has weakened into a depression, it said.The weather phenomenon would move west­northwestwards and gradually weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area, the MeT office said.Flood-like situation was reported in several districts of South Bengal...Read more...

like Howrah, South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore with heavy rains lashing these areas in the last few days.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had yesterday said that the inclement weather has claimed 39 lives and affected about 7 lakh people, leaving many homeless in the districts.Several roads in north and south Kolkata remained under knee-deep water owing to the rains. Arterial roads like Central Avenue, Park Street, Theatre Road, Hospital Road, Amherst Street and parts of Diamond Harbour Road were waterlogged, leading to traffic snarls.Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is running 300 pumps from its permanent pumping stations in different parts of the city along with 360 more portable pumps to drain out the water, Mayor in-Council (drainage) member, Tarak Singh, said.The water level in the Ganges recorded a high of 6.8-m owing to a full moon yesterday combined with the heavy rains and release of water from upper catchment areas, said a River Traffic Police officer.The high water level in the river also hampered the drainage of water from certain parts of the city, KMC officials said. Train services at Howrah and Sealdah sections of Eastern Railway were affected owing to the flooding of the tracks, said ER CPRO, Ravi Mahapatra."At Sealdah, EMU local train services are delayed and we are running trains on Sunday schedule," he said. That meant several EMU locals were cancelled due to lack of rakes, which were stuck in waterlogged car sheds.Mail and express trains to and from Howrah and Sealdah are delayed, but all the trains are running, he said.Train services at Kolkata station, another terminal in North Kolkata, are stalled due to the tracks going under water, he added. All trains to and from Kolkata station were diverted to Sealdah, except Hazarduari Lalgola Express, which has been cancelled for the day in both up and down routes, he said.The city's underground Metro Railway service was also affected for some time due to mechanical problem of a rake at Rabindra Sarobar station at 8.02 am. Services were normalised at 8.20 am, said Mahapatra who is also the Metro Railway CPRO.People largely chose to remain indoors with most schools and many offices being closed on Saturday, as incessant rains continued since last night.There was little public transport on the roads with both state and private-run buses not showing up. Taxis and auto-rickshaws were also very few in numbers, leaving people, who ventured out, in great difficulty to reach their destinations.

Heavy rainfall lashed south Bengal districts and disrupted normal life in the state capital in Kolkata, throwing road and rail traffic out of gear since early this morning as most parts of the city were submerged.The MeT department recorded 133.6-mm rainfall in the last 24 hours till 8.30 A.M. on Saturday and has forecast heavy to very heavy rains in Gangetic West Bengal till Sunday. Cyclone 'Komen', which made landfall in Bangladesh on Thursday, remained practically stationary there and has weakened into a depression, it said. The weather phenomenon would move west northwestwards and gradually weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area, the MeT office said.Flood-like situation was reported in several districts of South Bengal like Howrah, South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore with heavy rains lashing these areas in the...Read more...

last few days. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Friday said that the inclement weather has claimed 39 lives and affected about 7 lakh people, leaving many homeless in the districts. Several roads in north and south Kolkata remained under knee-deep water owing to the rains.Arterial roads like Central Avenue, Park Street, Theatre Road, Hospital Road, Amherst Street and parts of Diamond Harbour Road were waterlogged, leading to traffic snarls. Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is running 300 pumps from its permanent pumping stations in different parts of the city along with 360 more portable pumps to drain out the water, Mayor in-Council (drainage) member, Tarak Singh, said.The water level in the Ganges recorded a high of 6.8-m owing to a full moon yesterday combined with the heavy rains and release of water from upper catchment areas, said a River Traffic Police officer.The high water level in the river also hampered the drainage of water from certain parts of the city, KMC officials said.Train services at Howrah and Sealdah sections of Eastern Railway were affected owing to the flooding of the tracks, said ER CPRO, Ravi Mahapatra. "At Sealdah, EMU local train services are delayed and we are running trains on Sunday schedule," he said.That meant several EMU locals were cancelled due to lack of rakes, which were stuck in waterlogged car sheds. Mail and express trains to and from Howrah and Sealdah are delayed, but all the trains are running, he said.Train services at Kolkata station, another terminal in North Kolkata, are stalled due to the tracks going under water, he added.

Altogether 15 Mail and Express trains arrived or departed from Howrah behind schedule.SER authorities said waterlogging at the vital Howrah junction, Tikiapara and Santragachi railway yards resulted in congestion, delaying the trains.On the suburban services front, altogether 19 trains were cancelled and 15 other trains short terminated at Santragachi instead of Howrah. Another three EMU trains short-originated from Santragachi instead of Howrah."One train has been cancelled," an Eastern Railway spokesman told IANS.However, he said trains are running late by 15-30 minutes due to waterlogging."Both passenger and freight services have not stopped or been cancelled... but Express, Mail and EMU local train services have been delayed," he said.

Heavy rainfall has lashed south Bengal districts and has disrupted life in the state capital, after both road and rail networks have been flooded.

The MeT department recorded 133.6-mm rainfall in the last 24 hours till 830AM on Saturday and has forecast heavy to very heavy rains in Gangetic West Bengal until Sunday.Cyclone 'Komen', which made landfall in Bangladesh on Thursday, remained practically stationary there and has weakened into a depression, it said.The weather phenomenon would move west and northwestwards and gradually weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area, the MeT office said.Flood-like situation was reported in several districts of South Bengal...Read more...

like Howrah, South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore with heavy rains lashing these areas in the last few days.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said on Friday that the inclement weather has claimed 39 lives and affected about 7 lakh people, leaving many homeless in the districts.Several roads in north and south Kolkata remained under knee-deep water because of the rains. Arterial roads like Central Avenue, Park Street, Theatre Road, Hospital Road, Amherst Street and parts of Diamond Harbour Road were waterlogged, leading to traffic snarls.Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is running 300 pumps from its permanent pumping stations in different parts of the city along with 360 more portable pumps to drain out the water, Mayor in-Council (drainage) member, Tarak Singh, said.The water level in the Ganges recorded a high of 6.8-m owing to Friday's full moon combined with the heavy rains and release of water from upper catchment areas, said a River Traffic Police officer.The high water level in the river also hampered the drainage of water from certain parts of the city, KMC officials said.Train services at Howrah and Sealdah sections of Eastern Railway were affected owing to the flooding of the tracks, said ER CPRO, Ravi Mahapatra."At Sealdah, EMU local train services are delayed and we are running trains on Sunday schedule," he said. That meant several EMU locals were cancelled due to lack of rakes, which were stuck in waterlogged car sheds.Mail and express trains to and from Howrah and Sealdah are delayed, but all the trains are running, he said.Train services at Kolkata station, another terminal in North Kolkata, are stalled due to the tracks going under water, he added.

Trains services in West Bengal were hit on Saturday following heavy overnight rainfall that flooded some crucial railways stations and car sheds.The Eastern Railway (ER) cancelled one train while the other trains were running late. The South-Eastern Railway (SER) rescheduled two trains on account of waterlogging."One train has been cancelled," an Eastern Railway spokesman told IANS.However, he said trains are running late by 15-30 minutes due to waterlogging."Both passenger and freight services have not stopped or been cancelled... but Express, mail and EMU local train services have been delayed," he said.Mahapatra said swift action is being taken in areas wherever...Read more...

waterlogging has happened.The SER rescheduled the 18645 Howrah-Hyderabad East Coast Express and 12860 Howrah-Mumbai Gitanjali Express.The first left Howrah at 1.50 p.m. while the latter took off towards its destination at 3.50 p.m.SER officials said waterlogging at the vital Howrah junction, Tikiapara and Santragachi railway yards also resulted in congestion, delaying the trains.Several parts of Kolkata and West Bengal are lying waterlogged following the rains due to a depression over Bay of Bengal caused by the cyclone Komen.There was 117.4 mm of rainfall till 8.30 a.m. on Saturday and spells of rains and thundershowers are expected during the entire day, Met officials said.

KOLKATA: Heavy rain lashed southern Bengal districts and disrupted normal life in the state capital, throwing road and rail traffic out of gear since early this morning as most parts of the city were submerged.The Indian Meteorological Department recorded 133.6-mm rainfall in the last 24 hours till 8.30 am today and has forecast heavy to very heavy rains in Gangetic West Bengal till tomorrow.Cyclone 'Komen', which made landfall in Bangladesh on Thursday, remained practically stationary there and has weakened into a depression, it said.The weather phenomenon would move northwestwards and gradually weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area, the MeT office said.Flood-like situation was reported in several districts of South...Read more...

Bengal like Howrah, South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore with heavy rains lashing these areas in the last few days.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had yesterday said that the inclement weather has claimed 39 lives and affected about 7 lakh people, leaving many homeless in the districts.Several roads in north and south Kolkata remained under knee-deep water owing to the rains.Arterial roads like Central Avenue, Park Street, Theatre Road, Hospital Road, Amherst Street and parts of Diamond Harbour Road were waterlogged, leading to traffic snarls.Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is running 300 pumps from its permanent pumping stations in different parts of the city along with 360 more portable pumps to drain out the water, Mayor in-Council (drainage) member, Tarak Singh, said.The water level in the Ganges recorded a high of 6.8-m owing to a full moon yesterday combined with the heavy rain and release of water from the upper catchment areas, said a River Traffic Police officer.The high water level in the river also hampered the drainage of water from certain parts of the city, KMCofficials said.Train services at Howrah and Sealdah sections of Eastern Railway were affected owing to the flooding of the tracks, said ER CPRO, Ravi Mahapatra."At Sealdah, EMU local train services are delayed and we are running trains on Sunday schedule," he said.That meant several EMU locals were cancelled due to lack of rakes, which were stuck in waterlogged car sheds.Mail and express trains to and from Howrah and Sealdah are delayed, but all the trains are running, he said.Train services at Kolkata station, another terminal in North Kolkata, are stalled due to the tracks going under water, he added.